Planting New Roots
by yamiduke13
Summary: Tsuna couldn't believe it worked.
1. Chapter 1

Tsuna stared at the gun in his hand and then at the carnage around him. Takashi lying in front of him; his head two feet away from the rest of his body. Hayato with a stick of unlit dynamite in his hand and another one blown to bits along with his stomach. Kyoya with a tonfa through his throat. Mukuro with his trident piecing his face and into his skull. Ryohei with the bandages usually around his knuckles around his throat instead. He couldn't even see Lambo under all the bodies. And Reborn; Reborn whose gun Tsuna was holding right at the moment; taken when the hitman fell. Whose body lay a couple feet away with a bullet hole in his forehead. Tsuna looked at the gun in his hand again.

'I regret hurting everyone.'

He placed the gun against his head.

'I regret following tradition and not doing things my way.'

He shut his eyes.

'I regret making people suffer.'

He swallowed.

'I regret.'

He pulled the trigger.

XXX

Tsuna pulled himself to a sitting position in the middle of a field. He took a minute to shut his eyes and dragged air back into his lungs. Once he was breathing relatively normally he opened his eyes again. Yep…he was in the middle of a field. After he really started looking around he recognised it. Once he could clear his mind of the bodies and blood he noticed that this was the same field of the battle. Just with no dead bodies, no dead guardians.

He jumped to his feet and then fell to his knees with a groan. It felt like someone had split his head in half with a pickaxe; like they had done to Iemitsu. He dragged in his breath again and held it. After 10 seconds he let it out in a rush. Instead of standing he knelt back to investigate things.

It was the same field that they had been fighting in. Off to the side was a tree that had been burnt to the ground but was standing tall now. Next he looked down at himself; his hands were small, and soft. They didn't have the calluses he was used to. Jeans and a t-shirt; he wasn't standing but he could tell he was shorter.

Tsuna took a deep breath and tried not to panic. He put his head between his knees and just breathed. Once his stomach had settled down he attempted standing again. This time he managed, though his legs were a bit shaky.

'It worked,' he thought in disbelief.

He hadn't actually expected it to. The Decimo had thought; surrounded by all that death, all those regrets swirling inside of him and Reborn's pacifier in one hand and gun in the other. He had been half sure that the dying will bullet he sent into his brain was going to kill him. Instead it had sent him into the past; a half-baked idea Tsuna had come up with on the spot after watching everyone he knew die.

The boy looked around the field and grinned. He would get it right this time; would change things and make them better. First he had to get home though. It was a good thing the fight had taken place outside of Namimori, he didn't know what would have happened if it had been in Italy, and it was nighttime. He could make it home without Mama noticing he was missing.

Tsuna took three steps and fell flat on his face. That wasn't because of his weak legs though; that was because he tripped over a rock. Three minutes later he tripped again and cursed. The boy had forgotten how clumsy he was before Reborn had showed up. He made it home, with minimal injuries and snuck into his room. This required him being very, very, careful so he wouldn't trip and wake his mama. Once he slipped inside and tripped over a book, he held back a yelp, he turned to look at the calendar. According to it, he was here three years before Reborn. That should give him enough time to get his roots planted.

XXX

The next day, it was a weekend thank god, he didn't have to go to school. He wandered into the kitchen to eat breakfast and spent, probably more time then he should have, staring at his mother.

"What is it Tsuna?" she asked with a smile when she noticed.

"Nothing Mama," he replied softly. "I was just thinking that you are the best mother ever."

Her body had been shipped back to them in a box which said enough on its own. Nana giggled and then Tsuna decided to spend the first half of the day with her; helping her clean the kitchen and doing laundry. It was nice just to be around her and he basked in her warmth; taking the advantage of hugs whenever he could. The boy knew his mother was startled so he told her he had a nightmare and she let it go.

After lunch he went up to his room; knowing it wouldn't be odd for him to do that. His younger self had been happy to spend all day in his room with games and manga after all. Instead of those though he grabbed his laptop and settled on his bed with it. It was time to start planting seeds.

The first email he sent was to Hayato. Tsuna was rather grateful to Spanner and Shoichi for the hacking skills they had taught him. He took several back allies and hacked into several websites before finally sending the email. He wanted it to be as untraceable as possible.

Tsuna's first step was helping his friends because there was no way he was going to let them be hurt if he could help it.

 **Smoking Bomb**

 **I want to hire you for a job. I have a retrieval mission that I need two people for. Your part would be blowing several holes in the walls of the building I am looking to break into. I will have someone else that will go in to retrieve what I desire. Email back if interested.**

That step done he sat back to think. He needed someone to break in and rescue the children but who should he hire for that? He needed someone strong, capable and subtle. He cast his mind back through the many assassins and hitman he knew. Reborn was out of the question as he wasn't going anywhere near the hitman yet. He crossed Skull off the list as well for being too noticeable and dramatic. There were not many others that he trusted until he came to Fon. The martial artist was quiet and skilled. He wasn't sure what he was doing around this time but the man liked children which made him a better choice than any of the others. This time he thanked Reborn for making him memorize the contact information for the rest of the Arcobaleno.

 **Fon**

 **I would like to hire you for a retrieval job. I have someone who will blow open several walls in a building which will serve as an opening and distraction. You will go in and retrieve the children locked inside. Email back if interested and I will provide more information.**

At the bottom of both emails he stated how much he would be paying them and then smiled. There, that was the next step done. He wasn't sure if he should have mentioned the children to Fon but he hoped it might help catch the other's attention since he liked kids. Hopefully, with their help, he would be able to free Mukuro from the Estraneo family early. All he could do now was wait.

He glanced around the room, checked the time, and yawned. Tsuna thought for a moment about what he wanted to do and decided on sleeping. He was tired from the walk back and would need his energy tonight.

XXX

Now for the real test. Tsuna stood at his window and looked at the tree outside.

'This could get me killed,' he thought as he slowly grabbed onto the branch to transfer his weight over.

Very, very, carefully he climbed from his window to the ground via the tree and almost let loose a whoop of delight upon surviving. He didn't, because that would have ruined the sneaking out, but he wanted to. The boy glanced at his watch and then set out.

A ten minute walk found him at the edge of the woods. It was time he started training his body but he needed to do so without drawing attention, hence the forest. He hefted the small backpack he brought with him and started hiking. His goal was to travel the through the wood to gain stamina and increase his agility by learning how to manoeuvre around trees and rocks without falling on his face. Ten minutes in he was out of breath and had cut open one of his knees on a sharp rock; the boy pulled himself back to his feet and started walking again. He had a lot of work cut out for him.

XXX

The next day was a Monday. Any other student might be worried but Tsuna wasn't. He could just sleep in class and the best thing was no one would care since he was always doing it anyway. This actually worked in his favor since he needed to keep up appearances; people needed to see Dame Tsuna so they wouldn't ask unnecessary questions. Being at school offered him quite a lot of useful things. He could re-gain energy from his nightly excursions and see Takeshi and Kyoya.

He wasn't going to go anywhere near Kyoya yet; he needed to be able to gain the prefect's interest and keep it as well before he dared to talk to him. He would also need some fighting knowledge before starting anything so that he lived through their encounters.

Tsuna could start working on Takeshi's friendship though. Hopefully he could head off the suicide attempt before the boy even could even try it. The problem was that he couldn't just start being friends with him. For one thing it would be weird if he suddenly developed an interest in the star, and the baseball team would probably beat him up. He figured out an idea at the end of gym when the teacher paired Takeshi and another kid up for cleaning the building.

Tsuna took a breath before slowly walking over to the other kid. It was one of his bullies and he made a point of tripping once he was close enough.

"Oh look its Dame Tsuna," one of the jerk's friends sneered.

Tsuna looked up at them wide eyed and tried to edge around them, purposely tripping again. He felt one of them grab onto his shirt and he shut his eyes tightly.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "My…my Mom w-wants me h-home soon."

"Well that's too bad," one of them smirked. "I don't feel like cleaning the gym today so you're going to do it."

"But…b-but," Tsuna made a show of trying to protest only for the boy to shove him to the ground.

He stayed there for a minute so he could hide his smile before standing. It had all gone according to plan. It was quiet for a bit as he and Takeshi cleaned before Tsuna spoke up.

"H-hey Yamamoto," he said while trying to keep that shy tone in his voice.

"Oh hey, you're Tsuna," the other boy responded a bit surprised even though they had been cleaning together for five minutes already.

Tsuna withheld a sigh; he had forgotten how oblivious Takeshi was when he was younger.

"What's up?"

The young boy paused in his sweeping to bite his lip before looking at him shyly.

"Why do you like baseball so much?" he asked.

Just as he'd expected Takeshi's eyes lit as he started raving about his favorite sport. Tsuna listened as he talked and made the occasionally quiet comment. There were a lot of hand motions and sound effects which made him laugh and he found it was actually a bit relaxing just to listen to the baseball player rave. There were not that many quiet moments once he gained all his guardians after all.

It seemed like it was too soon that they had finished cleaning and Tsuna sighed as he waved bye and started to walk home.

"Hey," Tsuna glanced up at Takeshi's voice. "You're a good listener," the boy grinned. "See you later."

Tsuna smiled back. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long to wipe the fake look off his soon to be friend's face. He much preferred the genuine one he had just received.

XXX

His days soon fell into a pattern; he went out at night to work on his endurance and dexterity and then kept his head down in class, usually by sleeping. On days where Takeshi had cleaning duty Tsuna would manipulate things so he would end up there too and then would spend the time listening to the boy talk. Topics were usually on baseball but sometimes Takeshi would change it up and talk about his dad and sushi or how he didn't understand any of the work in classes. Those moments of conversation with his friend were the bright spots of his day and during those times he could forget about the blood and bodies for a little while.

XXX

One night he was going through his emails and froze when he saw there was two new ones.

 **I'm interested and would like more details.**

Tsuna grinned as he read it. He could just picture Hayato being so excited that someone wanted to use his skills but trying to sound professional and not needy in his email. He moved his eyes to the second email from Fon.

 **It is not often I am hired for jobs like this one. However I would be interested in assisting depending on further information you can give me and I would like to know the name of the person hiring me.**

That was good enough for him. The boy knew he couldn't give out his real name but he also hadn't thought of a good pen name either. He did a quick google search and decided on Yoki. It was a female North American name that meant rain. Using a name that had a flame in it would suggest he knew about them but since it was female and not Japanese it should give some false leads if Fon tried to find him. Plus it alluded to him being a rain and not a sky which was a bonus.

 **Smoking Bomb**

 **It has come to my attention that the Estraneo Famiglia has been experimenting on children. That is not acceptable and I want them freed. Your job will be to blow several holes in the walls of the building. These will serve as an opening for my second man to get inside and will also provide a distraction.**

 **Yoki**

 **Fon**

 **It has come to my attention that the Estraneo Famiglia has been experimenting on children. This is not something I will accept or allow to continue. I have someone who will blow up several holes in the walls which will provide an opening for you to get inside as well as a distraction. I will leave what happens to the guards to your discretion. As for my name; you may call me Yoki.**

In all honesty he would prefer if the scientists were killed but he decided to leave it to Fon to decide. Hopefully the Arcobaleno would appreciate being given the choice.

XXXXX

AN: I do not own Katekyou Hitman Reborn. So I know the whole time travel thing has been used fifty million times but I still wanted to write my own. Hopefully this is different from all the others out there. Let me know what you think; I love to hear people's opinions. Especially on the characters and whether they are OOC or not. This is my first time writing for this fandom, I'm not counting Harry Potter and the Tutor from Hell, so I'm a little nervous.


	2. Chapter 2

Tsuna put Hayato and Fon in contact with each other so they could work out the specifics. Two days later he started panicking. He had sent Hayato, a young child, up against the Estraneo Famigla. A Famigla that experimented on children. What if something went wrong? What if he got captured? He had been mixing this Hayato up with his. The older one who was willing to do anything, take on anyone, for him when this kid didn't have nearly as much experience. Tsuna could have just gotten him killed or worse. Each day that passed, without communication, just increased his anxiety.

"Yo Tsuna."

He didn't look up from his sweeping.

"Tsuna."

This time a hand rested on his shoulder and he jolted; his head snapping up to see Takeshi looking at him.

"You all right?"

Tsuna took a breath to say that he was fine and then stopped because that was his friend Takashi looking at him; even if they weren't technically friends yet he couldn't help but want to tell him.

"I'm waiting for an email," he abridged it. "And I'm just…I'm worried," he said.

He tried his best to keep the fear out of his face and then blinked when a hand ruffled his hair.

"Mah, Just relax."

The boy stared at his friend in disbelief but Takashi just smiled.

"You're waiting right? That means there's nothing you can do. It's like waiting for a test, you already put down the answers; now you just have to sit back."

"But what if I did something wrong," Tsuna shook his head. "What if someone gets hurt?"

Takashi studied him for a moment before resting his chin on the fluffy hair.

"Is worrying about it going to change anything?"

"No," Tsuna admitted after a reluctant pause.

"Then try and relax. You can't do anything till the test is handed back."

The boy glanced up at his friend. He couldn't tell if Takashi actually thought it was a test or if he was just using it as an example. The other was confusing like that. Tsuna never did find out if Takeshi had actually thought the mafia was a game or if he just used that as a way of creating humor in bad situations. The boy was right though; Tsuna could reluctantly admit. Worrying about things wouldn't help Hayato; he needed to have faith in his friend. Thinking about it now he could picture the older Hayato freaking out about worrying his boss and would probably apologize on both knees. Plus Fon was there and surely he would be able to keep the boy safe.

"Thanks," Tsuna mumbled.

"No problem," Takshi grinned. "Worry doesn't look good on you."

Tsuna snorted before glancing up at him again.

"Hey Yamamoto," he started quietly. "Could I come watch you practice baseball later?"

The other boy looked at him in surprise and Tsuna flushed.

"I mean you don't have to say yes, and it'd probably be weird, and I shouldn't have asked, and-"

"Sure," Takashi cut into his babbling. "But why? Most people just want to watch the games."

"Well…it's clear you really love the sport and I kinda want to watch you practice because practising is something you do because you want to right? Like you love the games but you have to play in those and you don't have to practice, but you do it anyway, so I want to watch if that's not weird," Tsuna tried to explain.

"Sure, you can join me when we're done," the boy grinned at him and Tsuna relaxed a little bit.

'Nothing I can do,' he reminded himself. 'I have to stay calm.'

They finished cleaning the gym and then headed to the baseball field. Once there Takashi set up one of the pitching machines and grabbed a bat. Tsuna sat off to the side to watch and smiled. Despite his friend's love for the sport he had never really gotten to see him play it. After all they hadn't really became friends until after Reborn and then there wasn't enough time. Now though he could watch the pure delight on Takashi's face as he hit ball after ball. It was inspiring to see such joy over something.

Tsuna continued to watch as his friend practiced and then he frowned. This was something Takeshi loved; something he put his heart into. How could Tsuna pull him away from that? That wasn't fair to the boy. He would be taking away his dream and even if Tsuna was going to change things, he would still be dragging the boy into danger.

'I don't have to though,' he mused.

Reborn wasn't around so Tsuna could just leave his friend in the dark.

"Hey Tsuna, catch."

Tsuna reacted a little too slow and flinched when a baseball smacked into his face.

"That hurt Ta-Yamamato," he whined as the baseball player walked towards him.

"Ah sorry," the boy laughed. "I thought you were paying attention."

Tsuna eyed him warily; he wasn't sure Takashi was telling the truth there, though he was grateful the boy hadn't noticed his slip of tongue.

"Hey, you want to give it a try?" Takashi held out the baseball bat and Tsuna gawked at it.

"Are you crazy?" He asked.

He had never really learned swords. Reborn had claimed it would be too likely that he'd chop off a limb; which was probably true. Granted a baseball bat was not a sword but still.

"Aww come on," Takashi pouted.

"No," Tsuna shook his head adamantly. "Not happening."

He cast his mind for an excuse and then smiled.

"I should probably get home soon anyway."

He needed to check his email. Despite feeling reassured by his friend he was still rather anxious.

Takashi made a disappointed face but nodded. They walked back together and Tsuna relished in the normality of it.

XXX

There were no emails which disappointed him and he ended up taking his worry out that night in the forest.

He had taken his hiking to jogging so now he moved faster and was jumping objects instead of just climbing them. The boy was increasing his speed and agility; even if he still ended up with some bruises and cuts. He knew where the first aid kit was; so it was fine. Once he returned home in the early morning he checked his email again and beamed when he saw he'd received two.

 **Everything went according to plan, and there were no casualties. However, some of the children are asking about you.**

 **Fon**

Tsuna finished reading it and then laughed. He knew who was interested and definitely wasn't surprised they wanted information. It was a relief to know that no one, or at least no one on his side, had gotten hurt. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the scientists but decided he was better off not knowing.

 **I am pleased that the mission was a success. Your pay will be deposited in your account and you may give the children this email. Would you be interested in accepting other jobs of this nature?**

 **Yoki**

Tsuna knew that if he didn't give Mukuro some way of contacting him the other boy would just try to find him by himself so this would hopefully cut down some time and possible deaths. The second email was from Hayato.

 **Mission accomplished; the children are all safe and free.**

 **Smoking Bomb**

Again Tsuna laughed. He could still picture Hayato at a computer with a cigarette in his mouth trying to decide what to say. It was weird not hearing him yell though that would be rather hard to do via email.

 **Excellent; you did good work. Your pay will be deposited in your account. I am very pleased that you completed this mission and am interested in hiring you for others. Would you be willing to stay on my pay role?**

 **Yoki**

Okay, so he had laid the compliments on a little thick, but Hayato needed to be praised. Tsuna had figured out positive reinforcement worked quite well with the boy. He also knew that Hayato had problems with money and didn't like charity. If the boy accepted this; he would be able to give him money without Hayato being insecure.

One of the best things about this was that he had hacked into Estraneo's funds and was using it to pay Fon and Hayato. So he was paying the people that broke into the Famiglia with that Famiglia's money.

XXX

It was barely two days later when he received the first email from Mukuro.

 **Who are you? How did you know about us? Why did you help us?**

Tsuna resisted a smirk before giving into it. That was so like the boy; jumping straight to the point. Or what he was like back when he was younger and suspicious; not the irritating mist user that drove Kyoya crazy.

 **My name is Yoki. I have my sources. Because.**

The young boy didn't even resist the urge to cackle evilly. It was about time he got a chance to do it and really Mukuro was just asking for it; he just wished he could be there to see his reaction. He sent the response off, waited half an hour and then replied again.

 **Because no one deserves to have those kinds of thing happen and I plan on eradicating anyone who tries.**

He knew Mukuro would be interested. There was no doubt about it with the boy's hatred of the mafia. Tsuna also knew there was no way Mukuro would stay neutral so he had decided it would be best to get him on his side. For, as creepy as he was, the man was still his friend and he wanted him safe.

 **You have my interest. How do you plan on eradicating these people?**

Apparently Mukuro was online since he got an email back right away; he also seemed to appreciate the word eradicate since he used it as well. Tsuna was a little disappointed he didn't get a verbal reaction to his first response though.

 **I will be working with people who have different talents and are interested in the same goal.**

Granted at the moment he really only had Hayato and possibly Fon but he would be working on that.

 **So you are another Famiglia.**

Tsuna could practically hear the hatred in the text and shook his head.

 **No. I am something else.**

He pursed his lips as he stared at the screen and tried to think.

 **You do not have to remain in contact with me but I do have a favor I would like to ask. There is a young girl that has an abusive family and there is nothing I can do for her. Can you help her?**

There would be no one better then Mukuro to save Chrome. Even if Mukuro decided to cut contact with Tsuna, which he highly doubted, at least he would have saved her and would most likely take her in. Plus it would show the boy Tsuna's good will which would hopefully sway him into being a nice psychopath instead of one that wants to murder him slash take over his body. At the bottom of the email he typed in the city and Chrome's full name. Sadly he didn't remember her home address so Mukuro would have to work with that.

There was silence after that last email so Tsuna assumed the mist user was thinking it over. The young boy stretched, looked at the time, and snuck out his window. It was about time he started his run through the woods.

XXX

Tsuna lay on the grass in the dark, panting for breath, and realized something. He had never really gotten full training in any martial arts. Reborn had trained him in the use of his flames and he used those in a fight but he had always gone with the flow of the battle and never really knew what he was doing when it came to hand to hand. He had always used his intuition.

'That is something I need to change,' he decided.

The problem was he didn't know how to go about it. For one thing there was, like, a billion different styles of fighting out there and he had no idea how to choose one or how to train in it. He mulled over the idea before grinning as something came to his mind. The boy jumped to his feet and raced back home.

Once there he tugged out his laptop to send an email to Fon. He remembered that that the Arcobaleno had trained I-Pin in some kind of martial art and Reborn had told him that Fon knew over one hundred different kinds of fighting.

 **Fon**

 **I am interested in learning hand to hand combat however I have no experience with martial arts. Do you have a suggestion for a type that would work well for agility and speed rather than strength? If you do could you recommend some training exercises I can practice on my own?**

 **Yoki**

XXX

The next night; after more racing through the forest, he only fell twice this time, he got a reply.

 **I would not be averse to aiding you in similar missions. As for martial arts; if you are willing I can come and train you personally.**

Tsuna stared at that and then ran his fingers through his hair. He took a moment to tug on it as he thought. This was not something he was expecting and he didn't know what to do about it. On the one hand it would be fantastic to receive hands on training, from an expert, and he was sure that Fon was a wonderful teacher. On the other hand he was an Arcobaleno; would he tell Reborn? Tsuna really didn't need Reborn in his life yet. He was rather enjoying it chaos free. The young boy bit his lip. On the other hand Fon was trustworthy; so if he promised…

 **I would greatly appreciate your help. However I will need a vow of silence from you. A guarantee that you will not tell, show, or somehow inform anyone or anything of my presence or my activities.**

 **Yoki**

XXXXX

AN: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I hope you all enjoy the second chapter. Please let me know what you think and if any of the characters seem OOC.


	3. Chapter 3

**I have arrived in Namimori.**

 **Fon**

Tsuna stared at the simple email with wide eyes. He had sent the name of his town to Fon after receiving his vow but he hadn't expected him to arrive so soon. The boy shut his eyes for a second before opening them determined.

 **Inside of the forest at one in the morning. There is a small field; you will know it when you see it.**

 **Yoki**

He hit the send button before he could change his mind and then dropped his head into his hands. He knew it was smart to meet in a secluded area where no one else could see them and he trusted Fon enough to be alone with him. That didn't stop him from being incredibly nervous about it though. Naturally he couldn't get any sleep at all that night, didn't even try, and ended up sneaking out the moment his Mom went to bed.

'A mafia boss should always be early,' he remembered Reborn lecturing him amused.

Because of his early escape and his knowledge of the woods he got to their meeting spot half an hour early and then proceeded to spend that time panicking, internally, of course.

At exactly one Fon appeared at the edge of the meadow and despite himself Tsuna couldn't stop a smile. He wondered how long the martial artist had been surveying the area. He'd probably been there before Tsuna was. The boy stood from where he had been sitting to greet the baby. Tsuna bowed his head slightly in greeting and Fon returned to it.

"I would like a spoken vow as well before we start," was the first thing Tsuna said.

It might be rude and unnecessary since Fon had already promised to keep his secrets but that hadn't been in person. There was something in Fon's eye, curiosity maybe, but Tsuna did not know how to read the other's face. The martial arts expert merely nodded.

"I, Fon, vow that I will not tell, show, or somehow inform anyone or anything of…"

He glanced at Tsuna with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Tsunayoshi," the boy provided.

"Of Tsunayoshi's presence or activities."

To Tsuna's surprise the man slash baby summoned a small bit of red flame in his hand as well before it vanished. It was a nice trick; not actually soul binding, so Tsuna still knew that Fon could break the vow if he wanted to but it was a nice touch and Tsuna trusted the other's integrity. The boy bowed again in thanks.

"Not Yoki hm?" Fon asked dryly and Tsuna smiled.

"You already knew it wasn't my name. There wasn't any point in hiding it anymore."

He sat down in the grass and offered the baby slash man a water bottle.

"I would have brought tea," he apologized. "But it wouldn't be very practical."

"It is fine," Fon smiled at him. "Now tell me. What are you interested in learning?"

"To be able to protect myself and others," was Tsuna's immediate response. "I want to focus more on speed, agility and endurance then strength."

Fon made a humming noise.

"What have you been doing for practice?"

"I haven't practiced any martial arts. Each night I come here and run through the woods. It helps my agility and endurance. I'm a little clumsy," he admitted. "So I've been trying to train that out myself."

Fon nodded and looked at him in silence. Tsuna did his best not to fidget. He couldn't remember if Fon had met his dad in the past or not. Obviously Lal had but hopefully Fon hadn't. Tsuna didn't want him getting suspicious; though when he thought about he did take more after his mother in looks.

"Show me."

Tsuna blinked at him.

"Sorry?" he asked.

"Do your run," Fon told him. "I want to watch."

Tsuna blinked again before nodding. That made sense; it would allow Fon a chance to see what he could do. He took a swig of water and then set off.

'Nothing flashy,' he told himself.

It was an automatic response to want to show off but he knew it was best if he just stuck to his original path. He was just turning a corner when his intuition warned him of something. Unfortunately the sense was weak since his flames hadn't been unlocked so he couldn't tell what was coming or from where. The boy took a guess and made a quick dive for the ground and felt something swoosh where he had been. He saw a small amount of red and assumed Fon had just attacked him.

'Looks like all the Arcobaleno are sadists,' he mused.

That wasn't really fair though since he understood the need to test his abilities. It had just been a long time since he had to deal with something like this. Another warning sense as he slid around a tree; so he grabbed a branch to swing himself up in time. Tsuna couldn't deny that he was having fun.

The next time his intuition went off he couldn't dodge and was kicked into a tree. The boy could instantly tell Fon was holding back since it hadn't hurt nearly as much as Reborn's kicks did. Not to mention Fon didn't aim for his head which was appreciated.

He skidded back into the clearing out of breath with several new bruises and scrapes but nothing serious. Fon joined him a minute later as he was taking a drink from his water bottle and stretching.

"Every night."

Tsuna turned his gaze on the…his trainer.

"Every night at one, here in this field."

The boy grinned and bowed his head.

"Yes Sensei."

XXX

The moment Tsuna saw Takashi after gym for cleaning he beamed at him.

"Wow, you look happy," the other boy grinned back.

"I am. I'm taking martial arts lessons."

He'd gone through several lessons so far and was pretty sore but it was a good sore. So far Fon only had him doing katas but Tsuna was okay with that. He wanted to learn as fast as he could but he also knew he couldn't rush things.

"Ah I see," Takashi grinned. "That's why you're not as clumsy anymore," he laughed.

Tsuna stared at him in confusion for a moment before wanting to smack himself. He had forgotten that he was supposed to be acting like Dame Tsuna. Well it was about time he stopped anyway; as long as he ignored the bullies and kept failing classes he would probably be okay.

"Yeah," he laughed along. "It's nice to be able to walk five feet without tripping over something."

That was one hundred percent true. His balance still wasn't perfect; probably would never be until he got his flames unlocked but as long as he could hold his own in a fight he was alright.

"So who's your trainer? Anyone I know?"

Tsuna shook his head.

"No. He's from out of town."

"Ah. Hey do you want to get ice cream after we're done?"

Tsuna grinned at how easily Takashi dismissed the topic and laughed.

"Sure Yamamoto-san."

"Takeshi."

The boy stilled and looked at his friend who just grinned at him.

"We've been cleaning together for over a month now, you come and watch me practice fairly often so call me by my first name."

Tsuna couldn't help the wide grin that spread across his face. He had his friend back.

"Call me Tsuna then."

XXX

Tsuna froze in the middle of the clearing and then found himself flying across the field and into a tree.

"Oww," he moaned.

"One must always be focused Tsunayoshi," Fon reprimanded him.

"Sorry Sensei," the boy apologized. "I just thought of something."

He bit his lip worried.

"How many waves do you think freeing the children made?"

Tsuna hadn't thought of it until now but surely something like that would draw attention and he really didn't want that. Fon raised his sleeve to cover the lower half of his face as he thought.

"Not many," he answered and Tsuna blinked.

That wasn't the answer he had been expecting.

"We did not destroy the Famiglia; just a branch of it. This was also a branch that the Estraneo did not want anyone to know about so they are keeping the business quiet."

That made sense when Tsuna thought about it. It wasn't like they wanted the other Famiglias to know about their experimentation on children and it also filled him with relief.

"Good," he smiled.

"Trying to avoid attention?"

Tsuna looked up to meet Fon's steady gaze and after a second nodded.

"I, uh, know a bit about the mafia and I don't want them butting into my life."

"And yet you are willing to interfere with theirs," Fon pointed out mildly.

"That's different," Tsuna responded sharply. "They were hurting children."

The two hold eye contact for a while before Fon just nodded and beckoned for the boy to stand.

"Again," he ordered, letting the subject go for the moment.

XXX

"Hey Takeshi; what do you want to do after you graduate?"

His friend looked up from his ice cream with a large grin.

"I'm going to go into professional baseball," he said with a laugh.

Tsuna wasn't really surprised to hear that and smiled. Takeshi made a couple hand motions, nearly dropping his ice cream, as he described how awesome being a professional player would be and Tsuna listened to him with a laugh.

This was why he didn't want to drag the boy into his life; he looked so happy and Tsuna nodded decidedly. He wasn't going to; well not into his business at any rate. It was Tsuna's choice who his guardians were after all. Takeshi could just remain his best friend without being involved in the underworld. Of course Tsuna didn't really know any other rain types but he would worry about that later. Right now he was going to enjoy the ice cream.

"What about you?" the boy asked after winding down a bit and Tsuna snorted.

What about him indeed.

"Who knows?" he shrugged. "Maybe I'll change the future," the boy grinned.

XXX

"Hey Fon?"

Tsuna ducked under a kick and used his own to try and knock the baby's feet from under him. It was kind of hard with the size difference and he decided not to do that again. After training, every night, for a month Fon had allowed him to use his name instead of Sensei and had started him on actual conflict though he still had to practice his katas.

"Hm?"

"Do you think I'm ready to fight Hibari?"

The Arcobaleno kicked him back into a wall and raised an eyebrow. They practiced on the streets occasionally so Tsuna could get an understanding of how fighting on flat ground instead of the forest floor worked.

"Not to win; I know I'm nowhere near that level," Tsuna clarified. "But to not die and not receive serious injuries."

Fon raised his sleeve to cover the lower half of his face as he thought. Tsuna hated that; that and Reborn's stupid hat. He couldn't tell what they were thinking when they hid their face.

"Another match," Fon announced to Tsuna's confusion but he took a sip from his water bottle and stepped forward.

After that it was a whirl of kicks and punches and dodging; a lot of dodging because it was really hard to hit someone Fon's size and ability. Not only was the baby a genius at martial arts but he was also…well…a baby. There was less area to hit. The fight ended with Tsuna laying on the ground panting and Fon looking down at him thoughtfully.

"You may be able to survive," the baby decided. "You plan on fighting him?"

Tsuna's eyes lit up and he jumped to his feet.

"Not yet," he grinned. "I want to give him a gift first."

He ignored the slight raised eyebrow and headed off into the street.

"Come on."

Fon followed him, naturally, since he was curious and Tsuna looked around until he found the perfect gift. A drug dealer; the boy came up on him from behind and knocked him out. Fon continued to watch confused, though he didn't show it, as Tsuna somehow got the man to the Hibari's building.

Tsuna practically glowed with excitement as he re-arranged the body there. He was carefully to move the man's coat to showcase the drugs before stepping back.

"There," he said while dusting his hands.

"You do realize it seems like you're courting him right?" Fon asked dryly as they walked away; the baby sitting on Tsuna's shoulder as a comfortable weight.

"What?" the boy spluttered. "No…well yes. But not like that," he protested and then pouted when the baby chuckled.

XXXXX

AN: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. So here is the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy. Please let me know what you think; I really appreciate advice and comments. Compliments are awesome too though haha.


	4. Chapter 4

"What'd you do?"

"What do you mean?" Tsuna asked Takeshi confused.

His friend nodded his head towards where Kyoya was stalking through the students angrily.

"What makes you think I had anything to do with that?" Tsuna responded offended.

"You're looking far too gleeful," was the response.

"Oh crap."

Tsuna quickly tried to adopt a worried expression like every other student there causing Takeshi to snort.

"So?"

The young boy glanced at the prefect before dragging Takeshi over towards the baseball field to explain.

"So you left an unconscious drug dealer at his house as a gift?"

Tsuna nodded.

"You do know that seems like you're wooing him right?" his friend asked with a grin and then laughed when Tsuna threw his hands up in the air.

"It's not like that," he said. "Why does everyone think it's like that," he pouted making Takeshi laugh harder. "I just want to be his friend."

"You want to be friends with the Demon Prefect?"

Tsuna nodded and Takeshi laughed again.

"Well good luck. You could always just manipulate things so you end up cleaning the gym with him every time."

Tsuna blinked and then glanced at his friend.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he denied.

"Sure you don't," the other snorted.

"And besides. He's older then us so we don't have gym together."

"Right," Takeshi grinned. "Want to visit the arcade later?"

 **XXX**

"So you plan to leave another…gift for him then?"

"Don't say it like that," Tsuna complained to the baby on his shoulder. "It's a friendship gift. That's all."

He could practically feel Fon's amusement as he traversed the town till he found a mugger. The boy proceeded to do the same thing as a couple nights ago and then froze when Fon leapt into the bushes.

"Herbivore."

There was only one person that could pull off such a dangerous tone in one simple word. Tsuna really had hoped to get more gifts in before getting caught.

"Carnivore-san," he greeted as he did a quick turn and then lunged to the side to avoid the tonfa aimed at his head.

"You're hunting in my territory."

Tsuna ducked under the next swing and kicked his leg into Hibari's stomach. It sent the older boy back about an inch.

'Stupid strong jerks,' he thought annoyed.

"It was a gift," the weaker one was quick to say in the split second he had before Kyoya attacked again.

Now that his little bit had been said Tsuna put all his concentration into the fight. He knew Kyoya wouldn't be above seriously hurting him and the boy wanted to do at least a little return damage. It helped that he had practice fighting the older Kyoya from his past.

He slipped in past one of the attacks and aimed a punch at Kyoya's head and a knee into the boy's stomach. The punch connected but the knee didn't and he had to duck back to avoid a tonfa in the head. Instead he got whapped across the arm instead making him wince.

On the other hand he had used enough strength to give the other boy a bloody noise. The fact that Kyoya actually looked a little surprised at it was highly amusing. The feral smile that took over after that was not. Then the boy increased his speed and Tsuna had to use everything he had just to keep up.

It involved a lot of dodging. It felt like that was all Tsuna could do though he did get some kicks and punches in occasionally. He actually managed to knock Kyoya off his feet; he was fifty fifty on whether it was luck or not. The fact that the grin on the prefect's face had widened did not cheer him up.

'Why did I want this again,' he thought to himself as he dove to the side. 'Oh yeah, cause it's kind of fun.'

And it was. In a hugely painful sort of way. When he was fighting with his cloud guardian all the other problems fell away. He was too busy trying not to get a broken arm to worry about the future. On that note; Tsuna did a quick roll to avoid a tonfa to the arm. It smacked into the wall leaving a mark and he winced. That would have hurt. He ducked under Kyoya's arm and grabbed it in an attempt to dislocate it; unfortunately he didn't have enough time as the other grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder. Tsuna took the practice with Fon to fall properly and not injure himself. He also took the chance to kick out at Kyoya's knee making it buckle and then slammed his foot into Kyoya's side.

It ended not to soon after with Kyoya's tonfa at his throat making Tsuna see black for a second. The image of his past Kyoya flashed through his eyes, with a tonfa stained with red, for a second before focusing back on the current one. The older boy studied him for a moment and then turned and walked away.

'Didn't even say anything,' Tsuna thought sourly as Fon returned to his shoulder.

"He was impressed," the baby assured him. "No one your age has held out that long against him; or given him a bloody noise," he sounded rather amused at that.

 **XXX**

"I take it Hibari figured you out," Takeshi said amused.

"What gives you that idea," Tsuna muttered as he prodded the bruise on his arm and winced.

"The wounds and the fact that he's walking towards us."

Tsuna's head jerked up to see that the prefect was indeed stalking towards them.

"Oh no," he moaned. "I'm still sore from our last fight."

Which had been yesterday. Really though; he should have expected this; it was Kyoya after all. The boy straightened up just in time to dodge to the side.

"Carnivore-san," he heard Takeshi choke behind him at the name.

Tsuna briefly considered trying to talk to Kyoya before deciding there would be no point and focused on blocking the next tonfa strike which hurt but he pushed it to the side to punch Kyoya in the face.

Yeah it was dirty going for the nose again. Tsuna didn't particularly care at the moment; not when the other threw him five feet away making him do a quick tuck and roll. By the time he was standing the prefect was by his side and slammed one of the tonfas into his stomach. Tsuna let out a cry of pain and then quickly moved sideways to avoid the knee that was headed towards his face. He shifted around so he could slam his leg out into a spot he knew he had hit last night and was relieved when the bell rang.

Kyoya took a second to wipe some blood off his face.

"Thanks for the gift," he smirked before walking away.

Tsuna knew the prefect was messing with him; despite common belief Kyoya did have a sense of humor. That didn't stop him from pulling at his hair.

"It wasn't like that," Tsuna whined as Takeshi wheezed with laughter.

 **XXX**

Tsuna was going to regret this; he knew he was but at the same time he couldn't wait any longer. He took a breath and walked into the gym. Not even ten seconds later Ryohei was standing in front of him with a large grin. An image of blood stained bandages around a throat filled his head for a moment.

"Have you come to extremely join the boxing club?"

Tsuna couldn't help but smile.

"I was actually wondering if you had drop ins?"

The older boy looked adorably confused so Tsuna elaborated.

"I'm too busy to join a club full time but I was wondering if I could come by occasionally."

He hundred percent wasn't lying either. There was keeping contact with Hayato; he was Tsuna's gossip source back in Italy, training with Fon, getting his ass kicked by Kyoya and to top it off he hadn't heard back from Mukuro which was slightly worrying.

"You extremely can," the older boy grinned. "Go get extremely changed and we can start now."

Tsuna found himself pushed into a change room. He sighed in amusement but had expected this so he pulled on workout clothes. He had also expected, for some reason, to go straight into a fight. Instead he got set up with a punching bag. Logically he knew this made more sense but it was still a little confusing. Also when he got down to actually teaching Ryohei was pretty good.

"You won't start actual boxing for a bit," he told Tsuna. "First you learn the punches against something that won't hit back. Once I think you're extremely good enough; you can practice with a person."

Tsuna nodded a bit bemused but got to work learning the different punches and practicing them. Ryohei stood by to correct his stance or show him how to extremely do it better the whole time.

 **XXX**

Tsuna came to a complete halt on the street and whipped around.

"Do you know a lot about bikes?" he blurted out.

Mentally he winced as he watched Shoichi look up from the bike he was working on. He had seen the red hair and just had to talk to him. Bikes where the first thing that came to mind.

"Some," came the confused answer.

"Would you mind looking at mine then? I haven't used it in a couple years and my Mom and I don't know anything about them and my Dad is never home."

Shoichi stared at him bemused. Tsuna had said the whole thing in one breath and then flushed.

"Sorry," he apologised. "I can pay you," the boy offered weakly.

Tsuna could see Shoichi thinking it over before nodding.

"Bring it over tomorrow. I'll take a look at it."

Tsuna beamed in response and nodded.

 **XXX**

He was there the next day and had to take some deep breaths to curb his excitement. Shoichi had been one of the few that had been alive before Tsuna had pulled the trigger so seeing him again was amazing.

"A couple years huh?" Shoichi asked as he looked over the old bike in front of him and Tsuna blushed.

"I've, uh, started getting healthier. Taking martial arts training; so I thought adding bike riding to the mix might be a good idea."

Which was a complete lie; he had thought no such thing until he saw his friend yesterday. He had somehow forgotten that the boy lived in the same town as him until he saw the red hair. Shoichi gave him an odd look before starting on the bike leaving Tsuna to stand there awkwardly.

"So, um, my names Sawada Tsunayoshi," he offered.

"Irie Shoichi," was the reply.

Tsuna continued to sit in silence since Shoichi didn't seem interested in talking. He eventually gave up and just sat down on the ground to watch. He still found himself fidgeting a bit; Tsuna never was very good at sitting still. He'd actually gotten better with it since he started training with Fon but he still had a bad habit of moving; especially when he was thinking. He watched as Shoichi efficiently took apart his bike and fixed it. Once he was done he had Tsuna attempt to ride it and nodded pleased when everything worked.

"So, you're around my age aren't you Irire-san? How come I haven't seen you in school?" Tsuna asked as he pulled out some money to pay him.

This time the money was actually legitimate too; it came from his allowance.

"I'm taking advanced glasses," was the response and Tsuna blinked when an idea came to him.

"Okay; so I don't know if this will be awkward since we just met but would you be, uh, interested in tutoring me?"

Shoichi turned to stare at him and Tsuna winced.

"Well, it's just that I'm not doing very well in school; I'm almost failing every class except English."

That was purely because he spoke the language. Reborn had been very insistent that he learned it since most of the world spoke it.

"And I know my Mom is going to think about getting me a tutor soon anyway."

In a couple of years in the form of Reborn.

"So I figure it would be better to find one myself instead of who she picks."

He took a breath as his friend continued to stare at him.

"I'll pay you again," he offered weakly.

"I've never tutored someone before," Shoichi said.

"First time for everything," Tsuna retorted.

"Why me?"

"Well you're smart and know what you're doing and you're my age and seem nice," Tsuna rattled off.

"Hmm, sure why not," Shoichi finally gave in. "Mom wants me to meet people anyway."

Tsuna grinned brightly.

"Awesome. Your place, my place, or somewhere else? How about my place?" He suggested before his friend could actually answer. "My mom loves to have people over and would be more than happy to make dinners when you are by."

Shoichi rubbed his stomach slightly making Tsuna worry. Was he making his friend nervous? Was he jumping the gun? Maybe he should stop babbling so much.

"We take turns," Shoichi compromised. "We'll go to your house and then mine and then back to yours."

Tsuna reached forward to shake his hand.

"Deal."

 **XXX**

"What was I thinking?" Tsuna whined.

Takeshi made a cheerful humming noise as he watched his friend stretch.

"I mean martial arts training, getting nearly killed by Hibari and then I decide to try out some boxing. Not to mention I decided to add tutoring to the list. What's wrong with me?"

"You're a glutton for punishment," Takeshi offered with a laugh.

Tsuna finished his stretches and was attacked about thirty seconds after.

"Thanks for waiting until I finished," he told Kyoya between strikes.

As much as he complained; it was working really well for his body. His strength and speed were increasing; they had to if he wanted to keep up with the prefect and he was starting to land some more blows. Maybe one or two more each spar. Kyoya jerked to a halt as the bell rang and Tsuna thankfully wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"Good job Tsuna," Takeshi commented cheerfully.

Said named boy saw Kyoya's eyes flicker towards his friend. He briefly considered warning him and then decided against it. It was his fault for laughing at him. Takeshi yelped as Hibari's tonfa came swinging towards his head and he brought his baseball bat up to meet it. The prefect stared at him for a moment.

"Hn," and then walked away.

"Serves you right," Tsuna told his friend amused as Takeshi mournfully eyed the newly formed cracks in his bat. "You might want to consider your own martial arts training," he said and then it was his turn to laugh on the way to class.

 **Yoki**

 **Enrico of Vongola has been killed in a gunfight.**

 **Smoking Bomb**

Well shit.

 **XXXXX**

I do not own Katekyou Hitman Reborn. Opinions on Hibari and Shoichi. Good? Bad? In between? Opinions, compliments, suggestions, make me cry tears of happiness.


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